[G] Warden’s TvP 1:1:1 into "Terran Death Ball"

Hello fellow TLers, I am 4K.Warden from 4Kings. I am a top 20 NA grandmaster terran player with a current record of 332-128. I have recently started streaming and viewers have asked me about my TvP build, as I mainly use biomech "Terran Death Ball" army as opposed to the conventional MMM viking army composition in TvP. Thus I have decided to make a comprehensive guide about it. I have enjoyed extreme success (~80% win rate) with this build against top tier protoss players and I believe it is one of the strongest/safest build with ample harass opportunities.Please note that I have another account named REQchbeubc.503 and you may see some replays played on this account.

This build consists of a mix of several bio and mech units, including marines, marauders, blue flame hellions, tanks, a raven, medivacs and vikings with eventual addition of ghosts with third expansion. Throughout my encounters vs protoss players, I found that my opponents were able to counter my army composition too easily with the scouting information provided by the observers. Furthermore, most would blindly build colossus and gateway mix and still manage to overrun my MMM ghost viking army with little effort. So I was thinking, terran’s got these great mix of units, why not incorporate all of them for a strong, healthy composition of units (aka Terran Death Ball)? The strong point of this build is that it is cheese-proof, and very difficult for protoss players to counter with conventional builds. Also it is extremely well-versed in both the colossus based and HT based builds.Lastly, 1:1:1 build allows for strong timing pushes against several of protoss player’s builds that can win the game outright.

10 depot12 barrack13 gas13 Send a scv for scout, and make sure that it does not die. It will act as an important scout for checking to see if protoss player takes an early second gas.15 orbital16 second depotProduce 3 marines from barrack19 Build factory21 Build a bunker in front of ramp, if close position spawn, build at 1921 Grab second gas (If protoss player steals gas, build 5 marines then build reactor and grab second gas as soon as possible)After 3 marines are produced, add a reactor onto the barrackWhen factory is completed, immediately produce a hellion, add a tech lab onto the factory and build a starport.

This is the end of the build order as far as specificity is concerned. As I consider TvP to be a reactionary match up, one has to scout and counter what his/her opponent is doing and I will attempt to lay out the possibilities and solutions to the protoss builds in a case by case basis. As soon as the hellion is produced, send it for scout. This first hellion scout is integral for gauging what the protoss player is doing. Depending on what the hellion scouts, my build would branch out into several openings heading into mid game. In addition, if we manage to take a route around protoss player’s scouting stalker, one hellion is capable of dealing catastrophic damage. Please take a look at replay #1 below for example.

Note: I managed to sneak out my hellion away from the protoss player’s 1 zealot 1 stalker scout, and the result is devastating for him. He ends up rage-quitting with +10 probes dead.

The initial phase of scouting begins with the scouting scv. The things to look out for are the timing of second gas, energy left on nexus as well as pylon placements. Early second gas would mean that the player would be going some kind of tech, saving up enery on nexus would mean some type of early pressure by the protoss player, since the chronoboost would be used on production buildlings whether it be used on warpgate or stargate, etc. It is also important to scout all around his base for pylon placements as there is a good chance he would hide his tech near those pylons built earlier. And the scouting hellion can revisit those areas. These are the things to be reminded of when scouting with a scv.The scv scout allows us to narrow down the range of possible strategies that could be employed by the protoss player. The first hellion scout would provide more definitive proof of what the opponent is going to do.

Here are the possibilities that we would encounter after the scouting scv and hellion.

Possibility #1: The scv scouts no second gas and a lot of energy left on nexus. The first hellion scouts no second gas, and no expansion and 4 gate or just 1 gate. + Show Spoiler +

This means 4 gate or 1 gate with hidden 3 gate, so immediately put down a second bunker. Produce marines from barrack, tanks from factory, add a tech lab onto the starport and produce banshees. Also have a few scvs on stand-by around the bunkers with an auto-repair turned on. 4 gate is rather easy to defend against using 1:1:1 build. Please refer to replays#2, #3 and #4 below for proper response vs 4 gate build.

Note: I scouted early 2nd gas with a scouting scv and subsequent hellion scouted 3 gate and couldn’t see the 4th gate. So I thought he was going 3 gate void ray all in and made vikings, tanks with siege mode and marines. As it turns out, he was going for a 4 gate all in with sentries but I fended it off successfully nevertheless. FYI, I got matched with this guy like 4 times and all 4 games he went early 2nd gas with 4 gate. (Yup guys he’s a GM 4 gater...)

Note: My scv scouted no 2nd gas with a lot of energy saved up on nexus. I can pretty much assume he’s 4 gating. I confirm my suspicion with scouting hellion, while killing 6 probes and forcing 1 stalker to spawn in his base. In the mean time, I immediately wall off with 2nd bunker and make marines, tanks and banshees with 3 scvs on auto repair near the bunkers. The protoss player 4 gate pushes nevertheless, commenting “gg mr terran immune to anything” and leaves the game.

Note: The protoss player attempts to fake a 2nd gas into a 4 gate. This is why you must scout additionally with a hellion. Upon scouting 4 gate, immediately make 2nd bunker to finish wall off and produce marines, tanks and banshees. He tries to contain me with some stalkers and sentries, so I slowly leap frog with siege tanks into expansion and he ragequits.

Possibility #2: The scv or the first hellion scouts no second gas and 1 gate cybercore into fast expansion. + Show Spoiler +

The protoss player is being very greedy here and deserves to be punished. Upon scouting this, immediately build an armory. We are going to go for a thor all-in. Continue to produce marines out of reactored barrack and as soon as first thor is out, push with the thor, all the marines you have and about ~12 scvs with auto-repair. With decent micro (stutter step marine micro, surround the scvs on the thor and focus fire on immortals first), this is a free win for the terran player! Please refer to replay #5 below for proper response vs 1 gate cybercore fast expansion, or nexus first builds. UPDATE: Thor all ins are only recommended in mid-sized maps including cross position spawns. In a big maps such as taldarim altar, against 1 gate expo or 15 nexus, go with 1/1/1 build then stop unit production for a relatively fast expansion. You might be behind in economy but definitely ahead in tech. And with this advantage you control the tempo of the game with ample harass opportunities. (banshee harass, hellion drop play, etc).

Note: The protoss player does a risky build: He puts down 1 gate cybercore into FE in my face while my scv is still scouting in his base. I decide to thor all in him. With ~12 scvs on auto repair, marines and thor, push for an easy win.

Possibility #3: The scv scouts early second gas (second gas already mining) and a lot of energy left on nexus. And the first hellion scouts 3 gate in protoss player’s base.+ Show Spoiler +

This would most definitely mean a 3 gate with proxied stargate all in play, so immediately start researching siege mode, produce tanks from factory, marines from barrack and vikings from starport. Defend by taking full advantage of longer range that viking has against the void ray and hold off the push until siege mode research is completed. Once siege mode is complete, it is rather easy to defend this push and expand into the normal mid game play (explained later in the guide). Successful defense vs 3 gate void ray push would put back the protoss player behind economically, so we will be very much ahead heading into mid game. Please refer to replay #6 and #7 below for proper response vs 3 gate 1 stargate all in.

Note:Please don’t mind my comments in the game!!! I was just trolling rsvp Anyways, it is a close spawn position in shattered temple. His early 2nd gas is scouted with my scv and hellion scouts 2 gate. I realize something is up and immediately make a blind viking, tank and marine production. After viking is finished, I put down tech lab to make raven to defend against possibility of DTs. In the mean time, I scout possible proxy locations for stargate with my viking. He shows up with void ray and stalker combo so I continue making viking, tanks and marines and prepare for expansion. I am ahead with successful defense against his push. Then it goes into a mid game where I build up the “Terran Death Ball” army and crush him for the win.

Note: It is a cross spawn position in shattered temple. I scout his early 2nd gas with my scv and hellion scouts 3 gate. I realize its either 3 gate + stargate or 3 gate DT into expansion. His void ray shows up and warps in 2 zealots into my base. So I immediately make viking, tanks and marines with pulling of some scvs. Eventhough he did some damage with this push, I defend it successfully and end up being ahead by 15 food. He expands and attacks for a timing push with immortals and stalkers but it is handled with relative ease. In the meantime, I continue to mass up “Terran Death Ball”. He is way behind at this point and comes with 5 collosus and a bunch of stalkers for my third but is stomped and leaves without a gg.

Possibility #4: The scv scouts early second gas (second gas already mining) and a lot of energy left on nexus. Then the hellion scouts either 1 or 2 gate into stargate and production of phoenix. (You can see this from the stargate animation).+ Show Spoiler +

Upon seeing production of phoenix, or a flock of phoenix scouting our main base, we need to immediately put down armory and engineering bay for production of thors and turrets. Also build a CC inside the main base. Build one turret in the middle of mineral line and another barrack. Continue to produce marines, thors and medivac/viking. When you have two thors, go for an all in push with all your units plus ~12 scvs. Most likely he/she would’ve expanded and will die to this push as phoenixes are useless to both thors and marines (and not enough time to tech to collosus or whatnot). If he didn’t expand, go back to your base and get even more ahead economically and prepare for mid-late game composition shown later in the guide. Please refer to replay #8 below for proper response vs phoenix opening.

Note: It is close by air position in shattered temple. My scv scouts nothing out of the ordinary but he denies my scouting hellion with a zealot and a stalker. I realize something’s up and immediately make viking, tank and marines. My next move would’ve been to make a raven, but he shows up with 3 flying phoenixes in my base. I immediately make an armory and CC in my main. Another thing I should’ve done is to make an engineering bay and build a turret in each of my mineral line. In any case, the proper response is to go for an EEEE HAN TIMING with 2 thors, a lot of marines, viking and medivacs with ~15 scvs for an easy win.

Possibility #5: The scv scouts early second gas and not much energy left on nexus and the first hellion scouts 3 gate. + Show Spoiler +

This would most likely mean 3 gate DT into expand opening, as chronoboost can’t be used to speed up the building construction time. So we can deduce that the opponent is probably going for some type of tech play while chronoboosting on nexus for probe production. There is a chance that it could be 3 gate void ray all in, so check around possible stargate proxy location near your base with a hellion or scv. If there’s no proxy stargate, immediately wall off the ramp with depot, produce a raven, and continue to produce tanks with siege mode and marines and make a CC in your base. Also build an engineering bay for turret in the mineral line. Soon enough, the protoss player will poke in up the ramp with a DT. That’s the cue from the protoss player gently reminding us that he/she is ready to be pwned. Upon seeing the DT, immediately go for an all in with every unit you have with ~12 scvs. The protoss player will not have enough army to deal with your army as he teched too heavily in one base. Please refer to replays #9, #10, #11 and #12 below for proper response vs 3 gate DT into expand opening.

Note: It is cross spawn position in backwater gulch. I actually played him two games that day on the same position of the same map. First game I lost to his DT into expansion build. Eventhough he denied my scouting hellion, I was trying to be greedy/aggressive and built a banshee rather than a raven. Needless to say, the right move should’ve been to play safe and produce a viking followed by raven right away. Second game, he chose to get early second gas and denied my scouting hellion like in the first game. So I scouted around with my scv for possible proxy stargate locations around my base, but found none. Since it is cross position, there’s no way he would build stargate in his base for an all in. I deduced that he is going DT into expansion again and built a raven right away. At the same time, I continue to build marines and tanks and build a CC. As expected, DT shows up the ramp and that’s all the cue I need. With all my army and ~12 scvs, I go for a timing push into his base. He manages to feedback my raven but I have plenty of scans from 2 orbitals to detect against DTs. He ggs and leaves the game.

Note:WARNING!! The protoss player ragequits with racist comments. Viewer discretion is advised Anyways, I scout early gas with scv and 1 robo and 2 gate with scouting hellion. I deduce that he’s going with a safe build and start making CC with marines, tanks and banshees. As shown in possibility #8 below, I start to gear up for production of “Terran Death Ball”. He shows up with a warp prism and drops DTs into my base. However, production of raven is integrated into my build and his warp prism DT play is not effective whatsoever. He has the audacity to branch out into 2 different tech trees only in 2 bases? He deserves to be punished for that. He makes his 2nd nexus in a proxy location and I scout it with my hellion. I 1a into his army for the win and he gets really, really mad. (Watch the rep for his exact comments).

Note: This game, the protoss player does catch me off guard using a proxy pylon and a hallucinated phoenix. He warps in 3 DTs on my main and kills a lot of my scvs eventhough I have a raven out already. My scv count gets down to a meager 15, but I know that this is the EEEE HAN TIMING for me to win. As soon as my natural is secured with a turret, I push out with my army for an easy win. He ragequits without a gg.

Note: My scv scouts early 2nd gas but hellion only scouts 2 gate in his base. I realize something is up and build viking followed by a raven, as well as tanks and marines. I played this game at a time when I did not realize that such strong timing existed against DT into expansion builds. So I decide to expand safely and build up “Terran Death Ball”. And roll him for an easy win.

Possibility #6: The scv scouts early second gas and the first hellion is denied scouting by 1 zealot 1 stalker or 2 stalkers.+ Show Spoiler +

This basically means that the protoss player’s got something to hide in his base, as he/she is not even bothering to scout what we are doing. It’s most likely 3 gate DT into expand, 3 gate void ray all in or 3 gate into blink stalker build, so check around possible proxy locations for hidden stargate or dark shrine. As we are not too sure about what the protoss player is doing, we have to play safe. Completely wall off the ramp (to buy time against DTs), continue to make marines and tanks with siege mode. Also, make a viking and then a raven from starport. If he went void ray or DT opening, refer to above posts (possibilities #3 and #5) for proper response. If he went 3 gate into blink, build another CC in the main and leap frog siege tanks into expansion and head into mid-late game army composition into “Terrran Death Ball” described later in the guide. Please refer to replay #13 for proper response.

Note:FYI, Undercover told me he's Deezer. This game I was going for a variation of this build, following iechoic’s 3 hellion drop opening. It gets scouted by his stalker and he reveals his blink. I immediately start producing marines, tanks, raven and banshees and expand. Obviously the logical tech path for the protoss player is either HT or DT based builds. He chooses to get DTs and as soon as I see a DT in my base, I scream EEEE HAN TIMING and run into his base for the win. Deezer leaves without a gg...

Possibility #7: The scv scouts early second gas and the first hellion scouts 3 gate with a robo and the protoss player is not bothering to expand.+ Show Spoiler +

This means he/she’s going for a 1 base colossus all in. Immediately put down 2 bunkers in natural while making viking, tanks with siege mode and marines. Then build CC in the natural. Build supply depots around the bunkers so that they cannot be attacked by zealots and siege the tanks behind the bunkers. Use a viking to provide sight for tanks and focus fire on collosus using tanks/vikings. We should be able to fend it off easily and the protoss player will either quit or be way behind. I forgot to save replays vs 1 base colossus all ins (I didn’t think I would make a comprehensive guide such as this) but I have defended against it successfully using tanks and vikings with bunkers. The closest replay I could find to 1 base collosus all in is this replay where the protoss player went warp prism with zealot drop into 1 base collosus all in. Please refer to replay #14 for proper response.

Note: The key here is to build 2 bunkers in the natural to secure the expansion. The protoss player won’t be able to move into a seige tank line with bunkers and vikings patrolling the air. In this replay, the protoss player goes for a warp prism zealot drop into 1 base collosus play. But he can’t break the line of defense and decides to expand. By then it’s too late and I 1a for the win.

This is the main course of the meal, so to speak. The cue for “safe” protoss builds is either our first hellion scouting for 2 gate/3 gate robo into expansion, or 3 gate into expansion with a lot of sentries. In this case it is very difficult as a terran player to win the game right away, so we need to build up our “Terran death ball” for a strong timing push. Upon scouting this, make banshee out of starport and build a CC in our main. We will make 2 banshees to poke in/harass his mineral line as 2 banshees one hit the probes. Build 2 tanks with siege mode and continue to make marines. The 2 banshees will keep most of his army in his/her base and it will be relatively easy for us to set up an expansion. Build 2 bunkers in the natural, and float the CC into natural mineral line and morph it into an OC. When the 2 bunkers are done, siege the two tanks below in natural and build an engineering bay as well as a second factory. After 2 banshees are produced, make a raven and a second factory with a reactor. Research infernal pre-igniter using first factory and additionally put down 2 more barracks. One barrack will have a tech lab and another with a reactor. After raven’s built, swap starport with a barrack with a reactor. Research stim, combat shield and concussive shells. In 2 bases, we will have 3 rax (2 with tech lab and 1 with reactor), 2 factory (1 with tech lab and 1 with reactor), and 1 starport with reactor for a total production buidling of 6. Continue to build marines, marauders, tanks, blue flame hellions, vikings and in the mean time continue to poke in with 2 banshees. Build an armory and upgrade +attack for vehicle as well as +attack for infantry from engineering bay. As soon as infernal pre-igniter is finished, we also have the option of going for a hellion drop.The timing for this push is when we reach ~150 food. It is important to mention that throughout all this, continue to produce scvs. Take a third as we move out with this massive army. Scan ahead of your army to see the protoss player’s army movement and siege the tanks near his base. For the main engagement, make sure to group hellions+MM army in one hotkey and tanks+vikings in another hotkey.First thing to mention is that you MUST put down the PDD right before engagement. It can mean the difference between completely demolishing the protoss army or losing the game. A raven full of mana can set 2 PDDs which can deflect up to 40 attacks from stalkers/phoenixes! Also raven is the priority target over any other unit, so setting up PDD is the first action we should do in main engagement. Against collosus based builds, focus fire on collosus with tanks+vikings while kiting the collosus with hellion+MM army. When most of collosus are taken care of, 1a into his army. Against HT based builds, focuse fire on his/her stalker or HTs using tanks and , kite and spread out the hellions+MM to minimze storm damage. Also we would build more medivacs than vikings when facing HT based builds. If game goes on longer, put down 2 more barracks and factory per each base we construct and continue to build on the core of “Terran Death Ball” army. Personally I would incorporate ghosts into the mix after third expansion is secured. Also make sure to continue to upgrade mech and bio units. Below I have provided several replays using “Terran Death Ball”. Also please note that in some replays I have incorporated some ghosts in 2 base timing push but I feel that opting for an earlier bio and mech attack upgrades over ghosts would be more robust option heading into late game.

Note:Please don't mind my rambling in the beginning of the game! I was just humming k-pop <3 It is a cross position in shattered temple. Minigun goes 2 gate pressure into expand. I expand as well and build up “Terran Death Ball” for the win against minigun’s colossus based army.

Note: It is a cross position in shattered temple. FXOptikzero also opts for 2 gate pressure into expand. I build up “Terran Death Ball” against his colossus based army. He tries to get cute with blink stalkers in my main base so I a1 into his natural for the win.

Note: Guess what, it is another cross position in shattered temple!! WHAT are the odds of that lol.. Anyways perfect goes for 1 gate FE. Had I scouted that in time I would’ve went thor all in for a quick win. I keep up the pressure with banshees and blue flame hellion drops while building the “Terran Death Ball” for the decisive finish against his colossus based army.

Note: The map is xel naga cavern and ppgBubbles opts for a safe 3 gate mass sentry into expand. Mid game he uses observer for sight and blinks into my base and begins to snipe all the tech labs and reactors in my production structures. This was first time I encountered this so I had trouble defending against it. What one needs to do is to leave a viking and raven to snipe the observer and place some marauders in main base. In a near 200/200 battle, the “Terran Death Ball” crumples his HT/colossus protoss army.

Note: The map is metalopolis in close spawn position. He opts for upgrade heavy colossus/gateway mix against my “Terran Death Ball”

Note: It is close position in backwater gulch. FXOSLoG opts for 3 gate pressure into expand. He took his natural much earlier than I did and I couldn’t deal any damage with banshees or hellions. (My 2 banshees died to phoenixes without dealing any damage economically) I felt that I was pretty behind at that point and went for a semi all in with ~20 scvs. He chose to tech for 2 base HT play, but it was negated with good spread of units and slow yet meticulous tank leap frog.

Ending/Credit: I welcome any constructive feedback/criticism on this guide. Please take your time to read them as I have put a lot of time into it Lastly I have a stream on TL under the name WardenSC so if you would like to see this build in action or my plays vs other match ups please feel free visit my stream. I regularly commentate and provide reasoning behind my strategy and play style on the stream.

Great! I think the Terran community has been waiting for this for a long time. Bio-based builds get boring after a while and to be honest it's weak to alot of colossus timings. Not to mention it's not that great against the protoss deathball. Thanks and I'm checking it out now

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

awesome guide warden!. its good to see more 1-1-1 users since straight up bio play has gotten really really boring. The great thing about your guide is that your only showing a straight up reactive guide, this doesn't count out all the other builds you could do with a 1-1-1 in a best of x series or w/e once ur opponent has sniffed out ur playstyle. A+++ hope u get featured too btw, Fograw and i miss you ;P

Sweet! My worst match up at the moment is definately TvP. The heavy bio builds feel so fragile. I decided to try a mech build (with a few marauders) just a few minutes ago and even though I made it up as I went, it felt sooo much more safe and solid.

Second question: How about 3 gate robo with earlier immortal bust? (as opposed to colossus). Immortals can chew through bunkers and absorb tank shots. Can you safety hold your nat with 1 barracks worth of marines? How would you tell if it was immortal vs colossus anyway?

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

Amazing guide thank you. Thor all ins are probably my favourite! I have always tended to get earlier ghosts, a second starport and double engineering bay but I'm happy to see tank / hellions thrown in for good effect.

I would sort of question why you make marines at all after the mid game, they don't do much damage and you have blue flame hellions to melt the zealots

But otherwise I really really like it

“It's like poker. You can play your best, but you've got to know when to fold your cards and take a rest, and know when to hold your cards, hold your breath and hope that nobody else is stacking the deck."

To answer the question regarding the earlier immortal bust with 3 gate robo, it should be actually easier to hold than 1 base collosus. Its a reactored rax so you would produce 2 marines at a time and with 2 bunker full of marines + tanks and banshees it should be manageable to hold off the push. However you may have to focus fire on stalkers using your tanks while using marines and banshees to snipe the immortals and bring scvs for repairing bunkers. If you watch replay #7 the protoss player attempts immortals+stalkers bust with 2 robos (eventhough the push comes later) and I am able to defend against it without too much danger. To scout for whether the protoss player's going immortal or colossus heavy 1 base play, you can either sacrifice a scv into his main for scouting or scan his main (which I never like to do, I am a firm believer that scanning for the purpose of scouting is gambling at best.)

Marines have one of the highest DPS in the game and it's never a bad idea to have them in a battle They are especially important versus phoenix collosus based army.